No backlash for swedish women?: The right to abortion on demand, 1975-2000

Lennerhed, Lena

Södertörn University, School of Historical and Contemporary Studies, History of Ideas.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6921-2480

2019 (English)In: Journal of Modern European History, ISSN 1611-8944, Vol. 17, no 3, p. 326-336Article in journal (Refereed) Published

Abstract [en]

Abortion on demand was introduced in Sweden in 1975. In this article, I will discuss abortion policies and debates in the 1980s and the 1990s. The National Board of Health and Welfare was given the task to spread information on abortion and contraceptives. State-sponsored publications stated that abortion on demand was an important right for women, but—probably for strategic reasons—they also described abortions as being difficult. The anti-abortion organization ‘Yes to Life’ was founded in 1991. Anti-abortion activists demanded (unsuccessfully) for a conscience clause and mandatory counselling, while also opposing the abortion pill Mifegyne or RU 486. In the abortion debate, the psychological impact of abortion and, in particular, possible mental effects after abortion, emerged as a new theme. Attempts by abortion opponents to establish the so-called Post-Abortion Syndrome as a diagnosis in Sweden, however, were unsuccessful. A new moral perspective to abortion emerged, focusing on the ethics of care and on women as moral actors. In the article, I will discuss the (relative) consensus and strong support for abortion on demand in the 1980s and the 1990s, as well as the proactive role that the Swedish state has been playing (since the 1930s) on abortion policy.